


The Fantastic Four

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Friendship, Humor, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-01
Updated: 2011-11-01
Packaged: 2017-10-25 14:22:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/271249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Tonight was about Emily, that’s all.  I just wanted to do something nice for her.  It gave her a chance to get out, enjoy herself, and not feel any pressure.  I reiterate…not feel any pressure.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fantastic Four

**Author's Note:**

> This story is written in the same universe as Casus Aliquis Pravus and takes place after the events of that fic. It's not quite Hotch/Prentiss but it is quite them too. Sorry if that makes no sense.

It was 6:20 when his doorbell rang. It was a little strange, but not improbable, that the pizza would be there so soon. It was a Friday night and there was a storm brewing but crazier things had happened. The door buzzed once more and Hotch just threw on the Duke Law sweatshirt. He knew that wasn’t going to be his final choice.

He’d changed his shirt six times so far that evening, each time chastising himself a little more. She didn’t give a damn what shirt he wore. She didn’t care if he went for the Rush tee shirt initially, trying to be cool. Then he thought that no one wears a tee shirt in the dead of winter unless they're trying to be cool. So the black long-sleeved polo was next but that was much too severe.

The white button down with the jeans reminded him too much of an older guy trying to be a hip younger guy. The burnt orange flannel had Hotch sweating before he even left the bedroom. He found a hole in his black button down and the Wolverines jersey looked like Jack had danced all over it before putting it in the top drawer. Hotch was really not good at this. It was just a movie night…it was no big deal.

She was not coming over to make a love connection. She surely didn’t give a damn what shirt he chose. But what if she did? Oh God, he was going to kill Sam. His best friend hadn't done anything but he needed to take this frustration out on someone. He needed someone who would understand and take the lumps.

Hotch beat himself up enough; it was time to share. Of course, this had been his idea. It was a spur of the moment thing; he wasn’t thinking properly when he said it. He hadn't asked a woman out since the 11th grade. Opening the door with one hand, Hotch pulled his wallet from his back pocket with the other. When Emily saw him she smiled.

“Whoa Agent Hotchner, I didn’t realize it was going to be that kind of night.”

“Huh…what?” he looked a bit confused but he smiled anyway. “I um…I thought you were the pizza.”

“I know I'm a bit early and I'm sorry. It was just the kinda thing where I thought if I stayed in the house another moment then I was going to find some excuse to cancel. You know?”

“I understand perfectly.” Hotch nodded. “Come in.”

Emily walked across the threshold and showed Hotch the six-pack.

“You said low key so I brought some High Life. You can't go beyond the boundaries of low key with Miller.”

“Did you know that it was once advertised as the champagne of beers?” Hotch asked, helping her out of her peacoat. Damn she smelled good. He managed to get a good inhale of her scent without making it obvious. At least he thought he did.

“I hadn't heard that.”

“You look pretty.”

Emily thought he seemed unsure when he said it. It was as if he might think she looked pretty but maybe that he shouldn’t say so. She sure wasn’t going to tell him she’d changed three times that evening before picking an outfit. She started with the casual black cocktail dress. That lasted for five minutes…it was movie night at his place not a three-star restaurant.

After that Emily went for the black slacks and purple satin button down. Something about it was still to dressy to hang out. Finally, she sent her stepmother into her closet. Natalie came back with dark rinse Levis and a pink v-neck, ribbed sweater with red chunky stripes. Emily forgot she even had that sweater. The outfit was perfect.

Firstly, it wasn’t a date. Secondly, she was going to spend four hours or so on a couch. Comfort was clearly the object of the evening. That’s why Emily put her hair in a ponytail, wore her Docs, very little makeup, and left her house too early. OK, that last thing had nothing to do with the others but she did it anyway.

“Shall I scare you and tell you how many outfits I tried on?” she asked, laughing some.

“Why did you do that?” Hotch asked, acting as if he hadn't. He felt a knot in the pit of his stomach for being a hypocrite. So he took a deep breath and fixed it. “Could it be the same reason I changed my shirt six times.”

“Six?” now Emily really laughed. “I feel better…thank you.”

“I'm glad I could help. I thought you were the pizza; I think I mentioned that. I wasn’t quite prepared for someone being here so early. Sam and Jessie will be here between seven and seven thirty. You wanna start off with some pretzels and beer?”

“That sounds good.” She nodded.

“Have a seat in the living room; get comfortable. I’ll get us some snacks.”

“OK.”

Emily walked through the apartment. It was more like a condo, in a residential neighborhood in Alexandria, Virginia. The place was sparsely decorated; a few stock photographs and paintings on the wall. It could definitely use a woman’s touch. The bookshelves were neatly packed with books and a decent stereo system that most likely went unused.

The furniture was plain but not uncomfortable. Some of his son’s things, a random toy here or there, gave the room most of its life. There were files on the living room table. Emily could only assume they were work. She used to bring a lot of it home too. Those days were behind her for the time being.

“How long have you lived here, Hotch?” Emily asked, sitting down on the couch.

“I moved in after my divorce four years ago.” He replied.

“Four years?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Um…”

“Go ahead and say it. I can take it.”

“This doesn’t look like home.” Emily said.

“Well…”

“Do you plan on moving sometime in the near future?”

“OK, that part where I said I could take it…maybe I can't.”

“I'm sorry.” She smiled when he joined her in the living room. “I didn’t mean to be harsh.”

“I guess there's just this part of me that never settled into this life.”

“What life?”

“The ‘being alone’ life. I work too much, I'm hardly ever here. It’s just the place I lay my head, watch CNN sometimes, and Jack stays over every weekend I'm in town. Other than that…”

“You can't be on the road forever.”

“I know.”

He wanted to say something else but he was saved by the doorbell. This time he was sure it was the pizza so Hotch excused himself and went to answer it.

“Oh wow, that smells good.” She said.

“I ordered the extra large, with ten slices. Jessie usually likes to have two; I figured you would as well. Then there's three for Sam and I.”

“What if I wanted three?” Emily asked. She was already enjoying the pretzels. Hotch was a great host…he had four different dip varieties.

“You haven’t seen the size of these slices.” He said. “I don’t know if you could eat three.”

“Where’d you get it from?”

“It’s called Pip’s. They have a franchise in DC but I don’t know about Falls Church.”

“Oh I know all about Pip’s.” Emily got up and came back into the kitchen. “I can't tell you how many nights I got drunk and ended up there at like one in the morning. The one near American University was open until three on the weekends.”

“Seriously?” he looked at her, quickly looking away.

“Oh yeah. I got my Masters at American after graduating from Yale. Tom moved to town with me because he went right to work at the State Department. Then I met Jordan in college and the three of us were hanging out all the time. Jordan and I were doing most of the drinking.”

“Do you still spend time with Jordan?” Hotch asked. He knew what happened to Tom; didn’t think now was the best time to bring that up.

“I wish. She’s working in New York right now. But I guess that’s better than San Francisco, Phoenix, Dallas, or Salt Lake City. She got offers there as well.”

“What does she do?”

“Super Secret Counterterrorism stuff.” Emily said in a whispery tone. “I keep telling her to come home; she can do that here. Since we lost Tom I think she might really be considering that. But we talk on the phone at least once a week. That’s not easy considering our schedules. I really want a piece of pizza now.”

“Good things come to those who wait. That’s what my mother always told me.” Hotch replied.

“Lucky you. My mother always told me, don’t slouch sweetheart because rounded shoulders ruin beautiful dresses.”

“You're not joking, are you?”

“No.” Emily shook her head. “She was right but that didn’t mean I wanted to hear it. I used to slouch just to piss her off. I probably did a lot of dumb things to piss her off. Rebellion used to be my middle name.”

“What is it now?” Hotch asked.

“It’s just Katherine.”

“I think Katherine is quite pretty.”

“Thank you. Can I have a slice of pizza now?”

Hotch just shook his head and laughed. He needed to relax and have a good time. Apparently that’s what Emily wanted to do as well. He was nervous but he wasn’t going to let that take over the evening. Sam and Jessie would be there soon; he could hide behind them if it got too bad. Right now he would go in the living room, share some pretzels, and worry in the back of his mind where they were all going to sit.

***

“I think that’s why _Vertigo_ might be one of my favorite movies.” Emily said as the credits rolled on _Rear Window_.

“Seriously?” Hotch asked. He was already halfway in the kitchen with plates and beer bottles.

“Yes.” She gathered up the rest and followed him.

“Why?” Jessie asked.

“Jimmy Stewart is a phenomenal actor but Hitchcock played him against type in that movie. He’s obsessive, insane, murderous…I love it. I really love that he did it. He had to be terrified that it would destroy his career.”

“Well the movie was panned upon its initial release.” Sam said. “It was only decades later that movie buffs saw the beauty of it.”

“Its dark, sexy, dirty, and all those other adjectives.” Emily said, looking for the recycling bucket. She smiled when Hotch grabbed it and held it up for her. “But due to censorship that’s all thinly veiled. I think that thin veil makes it a masterpiece.”

“To be perfectly shallow, I think Kim Novak makes it a masterpiece.” Sam replied, grinning and then flinching when his wife punched him.

“I had a really good time tonight.” Jessie said. “I've only been beating you up for three years to live a little, Aaron.”

“See, I do listen.” He said.

“Is it going to take three years to convince him to liven this place up some?” Emily asked.

“My condo is fine.” Hotch replied.

“One trip to Ethan Allen and you’ll see how wrong you are.” She said.

“Sam…help me out here.”

“I've always loved the couch.” Sam said.

“Thanks bud.”

“No problem.”

Emily laughed, grabbing the pizza box from the kitchen table. She opened it.

“There are two pieces left.”

“Yeah, Sam wimped out on me.”

“I heard that.” Sam said.

“Good.” Hotch laughed.

“I’ll help out.” Emily replied.

“We hate to eat and run, Aaron, but its getting late.” Jessie said. “We told Lindsay we’d be home before midnight and it’s almost 11:30.”

“Is it really that late?” Emily asked.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll wrap it up for you.” Hotch said, grabbing a slice of pizza. “I bet it’s been a while since you’ve had cold pizza for breakfast.”

“Oh yeah. I'm gonna use the bathroom; excuse me.”

Hotch nodded as Emily made her way to the bathroom. Jessie smiled at him but Hotch gave her the look.

“Don’t…” he said in a low voice.

“I didn’t say anything.” She reasoned as Sam headed for the closet for their coats. “What did I say?”

“Tonight was about Emily, that’s all. I just wanted to do something nice for her. It gave her a chance to get out, enjoy herself, and not feel any pressure. I reiterate…not feel any pressure.”

“I'm appalled that you think I’d pressure anyone.” Jessie replied. “She just lost her husband.”

“Exactly. Can we stop talking about her as if she left already?”

“It’s OK.” Emily came back into the room and scared all of them. Jessie was first with an apology but Emily stopped her. “It’s OK, Jessie, I mean that. People I care about have been having these conversations for 2 months now. I understand; I would be too if something like this happened to them.

“The truth of the matter is that I am not OK. But…I will be. We should do this again; I enjoyed myself. Maybe once a month or so we can get together for a little movie night. If you guys want to, so do I. I'm not ready to give myself to the world yet but it’s nice to be around people who know me.” she looked at Hotch. “And people getting to know me.”

“I think it’s a great idea.” Jessie smiled, putting her arm around Emily. “We can do theme nights.”

“What about New Year’s Eve?” Sam asked. “I know that’s not a month from now but it might be a good night for us grownups to get together. It’s on a weekend this year.”

“There's no guarantee that I'm in town.” Hotch replied.

“Sure there is.” Jessie said. “You're the boss and you need to give your team some time off. Barring major crisis you need to be home.”

“Yes ma'am.” He smiled. “I will do everything I can to be here.”

“Good.” Jessie nodded.

“Is that all it takes, a stern voice?” Emily asked.

“I've known him since he was 16.” Jessie said.

“Oh that’s not fair. That means it'll take another 25 years for me to convince him that color in a room is a good thing.”

“Thank you.” Hotch said.

“For what?”

“Thank you for thinking I'm only 41.”

Sam laughed, helping his wife into her coat. There was a little more small talk, some hugs and handshakes, and then the Kassmeyers were gone. Emily did a bit more cleaning up in the living room; something told her Hotch was a bit of a neat freak. She remembered his office at Quantico. There wasn’t a paper out of place and that was saying something because there was a hell of a lot of paper in there.

“We didn’t mean to talk about you like that.” he said, not knowing what else to say.

“It’s OK when people do it because they care. It’s not OK when there's gossip and speculation. I never got a chance to ask you.”

“Ask me what?”

“How did none of it come out?”

“None of what?” Hotch asked. “I don’t follow.”

“Nothing about Ian ever hit the news. I mean, there were a few things but nothing about who he was…or who you told me he was.”

“He was Pravus Unus, Emily; there was no doubt about that. What good would it have done the people who loved him for all of that to become fodder for the media? Your children didn’t deserve that. His other life had nothing to do with them or you. I don’t like cover-ups or anything like that but the powers that be, one of which I am not, made a decision that having three known terrorists off the street was good enough for them. We’d parade another victory in front of the press. This one stayed under wraps other than the connection to the kidnapping.”

“I don’t know how to thank you for that.”

“You don’t have to because I didn’t do anything. My boss is very politically astute and some people you know are as well. I usually cringe when the word politics comes into the conversation but for this, I was grateful.”

“So was I…truly.”

“I’ll get your coat.” Hotch started toward the hall closet.

“Are you kicking me out?”

“It’s nearly midnight now.”

“I don’t turn into a pumpkin, Hotch.”

“I just thought that maybe you wanted your babysitter to get home at a decent hour too.”

“My parents have the kids this weekend. I'd just go home to a dark and empty house. I really don’t feel like doing that right now. How about we pop in another movie and finish that pizza?”

Something in Hotch wanted to say it was better to do that some other time. It was late and weird things could happen when it got late. He didn’t want to speculate what kind of weird things but he knew of what he spoke…sort of.

“Do you like comedies?” he asked instead.

“I'm picky; what did you have in mind.”

“How about _Best in Show_?”

“You like Christopher Guest?” she asked.

“I like _Best in Show_.”

“So do I.”

“Great.” He smiled and showed his dimples. “I’ll heat up the pizza and you can grab the DVD from the shelf behind the TV. Is Coke OK for you; I think we should lay off the beer. You still have to drive home.”

“Coke is great.” Emily walked over to the shelf and took a good look at Hotch’s movies. You could tell a lot about a man from his film collection and Aaron Hotchner was no exception. He loved courtroom dramas; she could see that for sure. He also loved classic suspense and the occasional family weeper. “Thanks Hotch.”

“You're welcome.”

He left it at that because he wasn’t sure what she was thanking him for. He wanted to be Emily Prentiss’ friend. He wanted to get to know her better and help her along what was sure to be a bumpy road. And maybe he thought Jessie might be right and it was time for him to get a life too. He and Emily could do that together.

Not in a sexual kind of way but as friends. Two people getting back out there in the world after being gone for a while. Things like that were always easier when someone had your back. Hotch would do his best to try to have Emily’s back. He knew he wasn’t supposed to feel as if he owed her anything and she might be upset if she found out he did. But Hotch felt like he owed her that much.

***


End file.
